Christopher C. Cowan and Natasha Todorovic
Strategies often go awry because organizational leaders are not fully aware of the values held by its members. No matter how brilliant the analysis that underlies a strategy, it…
Abstract
Strategies often go awry because organizational leaders are not fully aware of the values held by its members. No matter how brilliant the analysis that underlies a strategy, it is the people ‐‐ from the board room to the factory floor ‐‐ who must understand and implement the strategy. That only happens when the strategy fits their values. Values matter. Ethical decisions and actions are based on values. The authors present a psychological theory that describes three levels of values: surface values, hidden values, and deep values, and explain how these values affect an organization’s leaders and followers as they pursue their mission.
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Salleh Hassan, MS Narasimhan and Theo Christopher
This study revisits the issue of the usefulness of the Statement of Cash Flows (SCF) by examining the perceptions of mutual fund investment analysts in India on the relative…
Abstract
This study revisits the issue of the usefulness of the Statement of Cash Flows (SCF) by examining the perceptions of mutual fund investment analysts in India on the relative usefulness of the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Notes to the financial statements and reports of Chairperson, Directors, and Auditors. Six testable hypotheses were developed and tested. The evidence of this study, drawn from a mail survey that achieved a high response rate, suggests that the SCF is read significantly less thoroughly, poses greater difficulty in understanding, and is perceived to be less useful than any of the other components of annual reports. The results of the study are also compared against those reported in similar studies undertaken in New Zealand and Malaysia, which show significant differences. A possible explanation for the contrasting results of the current survey is that Indian regulation allows only for an indirect format for presenting the statement of cash flows. The results of the survey suggests a pressing need for the Indian regulators to modify the format of reporting the SCF or give an option to companies accorded under IAS ‐7 (revised).
Theo Christopher, Salleh Hassan and Atique Islam
This paper examines why a sample of Singaporean listed companies voluntarily report Value Added Statements (VASs) in their annual reports. Given prior studies regarding the…
Abstract
This paper examines why a sample of Singaporean listed companies voluntarily report Value Added Statements (VASs) in their annual reports. Given prior studies regarding the factors motivating disclosure of VASs in Australia, this study seeks to compare its findings with those prior studies. The result suggests that the decision to voluntarily report VAS is positively related to firm's interest coverage, size, and industry membership, of which the latter two variables, firm size and industry membership, are also found to be significant in the Australian studies. In addition, while firm's effective taxation burden and leverage are significant predictors in the Australian studies, they are not significant in this study. Explanations are advanced for differences in the results of the studies between the two countries.
Mohamed Azam Aziz, Theo Christopher and Atique Islam
This study examines the determinants of voluntary highlights statement presentation in Singapore from 1992 to 1994. Agency and Political Costs theories are used to formulate…
Abstract
This study examines the determinants of voluntary highlights statement presentation in Singapore from 1992 to 1994. Agency and Political Costs theories are used to formulate hypotheses to explain management motivation for the presentation of highlights statement in their annual report. It is hypothesised that the presentation of highlights statements is positively related to firm size, performance, leverage and industry membership in the Industrial and Commercial, and Finance Sectors. Four explanatory variables are used to test the hypotheses, with 3 proxies for firm size and 2 measures of firm's performance. The results of univariate and multivariate tests substantiate the hypotheses for firm size, performance and industry. However, in the multivariate regression for the pooled sample, the voluntary presentation of highlights statements was found to be negatively related to leverage of the firm.
Academic literature portrays prison officers in various ways: as insensitive figures lurking in the background (Cohen & Taylor, 1972), as brutes prone to violence (Kauffman, 1988…
Abstract
Academic literature portrays prison officers in various ways: as insensitive figures lurking in the background (Cohen & Taylor, 1972), as brutes prone to violence (Kauffman, 1988) or more positively as noble people struggling to get the job done as best as they could (Thomas, 1972). Traditionally, the role of the prison officer is overshadowed by stereotypical views of male officers being uneducated, brutish and insensitive (Crawley, 2004a). Officers were traditionally recruited to the service from a military background, an environment that is as structured and disciplined as the working conditions in the prison service. Women have worked in the prison service for many years, although historically they were confined to administration roles and were in the main, invisible. After the passing of Peel's Gaol Act (1823), only female officers could work in women's prisons, and male governors were replaced with matrons. At the time, it was felt that female demureness, good temper and compassion would rub off on the female prisoners and that reformed prisoners would emulate their behaviour (Zedner, 1991).
In England and Wales, there is a growing body of literature related to prison officers (Arnold, 2005; Crawley, 2004a; Liebling & Price, 2001; Liebling, Price, & Shefer, 2011; Tait, 2008); however, none of this is dedicated to female prison officers. Arguably, this could be due to the fact that the profession has traditionally been recognised as a male occupation, and therefore the prison officer literature has been dominated by the thoughts and actions of men. Consequently, we know little of female prison officers' experiences of working in male-dominated, masculine organisations. In particular, we know very little about female prison officers' perspectives on gender-specific issues, such as pregnancy and motherhood while working in these institutions, either on their own or the women prisoners they work with. Drawing on qualitative research in a women's prison, this chapter will focus on female prison officers as mothers and their roles and relationships with women in prison who are also mothers. The chapter will explore how gendered experiences such as pregnancy, miscarriage, child birth and child-rearing (of both the officers and women prisoners) can create unique emotional burdens for some female officers, impacting their working role, home life and relationships with the women they work with. The chapter will go on to illustrate the ways in which these female officers manage or mismanage their emotions whilst presenting as professional in this male-dominated workplace.
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Theo Christopher and Salleh Hassan
This study examines the perceptions of Malaysian investment analysts on the usefulness of statement of cash flows compared with other sections in the annual report. Namely, the…
Abstract
This study examines the perceptions of Malaysian investment analysts on the usefulness of statement of cash flows compared with other sections in the annual report. Namely, the Chairperson's Statement, Director's Report, Profit & Loss Account, Balance Sheet, Auditor's Report, and the Notes to the Financial Statements. The inference of this study, drawn from a mail survey, suggests that investment analysts perceive the statement of cash flows to be as useful as the balance sheet and less useful than the profit and loss account but more useful than the other sections forming the basis of the study. It is read less thoroughly than the balance sheet and profit and loss account and poses greater difficulty in understanding, however, surprisingly, requires less explanation. A comparison with a prior New Zealand study indicates differences between the two studies. Plausible reasons are proffered for these differences.
THE article which we publish from the pen of Mr. L. Stanley Jast is the first of many which we hope will come from his pen, now that he has release from regular library duties…
Abstract
THE article which we publish from the pen of Mr. L. Stanley Jast is the first of many which we hope will come from his pen, now that he has release from regular library duties. Anything that Mr. Jast has to say is said with originality even if the subject is not original; his quality has always been to give an independent and novel twist to almost everything he touches. We think our readers will find this to be so when he touches the important question of “The Library and Leisure.”
Valerie I. Sessa, Jillian Ploskonka, Elphys L. Alvarez, Steven Dourdis, Christopher Dixon and Jennifer D. Bragger
The purpose of our research was to use Day, Harrison, and Halpin’s, (2009) theory of leadership development as a premise to investigate how students’ constructive development is…
Abstract
The purpose of our research was to use Day, Harrison, and Halpin’s, (2009) theory of leadership development as a premise to investigate how students’ constructive development is related to their leader identity development and understanding of leadership. Baxter Magolda’s Model of Epistemological Reflection (MER, 1988, 2001) was used to understand constructive development, Komives, Owen, Longerbeam, Mainella, & Osteen’s Leadership Identity Development (2005) to determine leader identity, and Drath’s principles of leadership (2001) to determine understanding of leadership. Fifty junior and senior college student leaders filled out the MER and participated in an interview about their leadership experiences. Interviews were coded according to the above constructs of leader identity development and leadership understanding. Although there was a relationship between leader identity development and understanding of leadership, no relationship was found between these two constructs and constructive development. Findings suggest that most of the student leaders still depend on others to help them construct reality. Furthermore, many believe that because they are in a leadership role, they are leaders while others are not.